Olympic Champions Dujardin and Valegro win through in tense tussle at Olympia

On a night when nerves were truly tested by the close confines of the arena, the pure class of the 2012 Olympic individual and team gold medallists shone through as Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro topped the fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series at Olympia in London. The Grand Hall at this prestigious venue is aptly named, but it is a very snug fit for the dressage ring at the Christmas fixture which attracts packed houses throughout a hectic week of great sport.

As Dujardin pointed out, “at the Olympics there were 24,000 spectators watching, but they were a long way away. Here tonight it was very different, they were so close you could hear them breathing!”, she said after claiming pole position with a score of 87.950.

Runner-up with a mark of 80.075 was double FEI World Cup™ Dressage champion Isabell Werth from Germany whose performance with the 11-year-old Don Johnson FRH left her well pleased. And it was Dujardin’s trainer and mentor, Carl Hester, who lined up third with a score of 79.900. It was an emotional night for the Briton who shared the top step of the team podium at London 2012 with his 26 year old pupil, because Hester was riding Utopia for the very last time. “He’ll be sold in the new year”, the rider confirmed tonight.

Great Expectations

There were great expectations ahead of this fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 Western European League series. And when Dujardin and her 10-year-old wonder-horse produced another in her long list of world record scores when posting 84.447 to win Monday night’s FEI Grand Prix, then it seemed anything could happen again tonight. But the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Freestyle record of 92.3 set by The Netherlands’ Edward Gal and the fabulous stallion Totilas at Olympia three years ago was never threatened despite some great efforts.

Imke Schellekens-Bartels and the massive 12 year old gelding, Toots, made their canter pirouettes look very easy indeed as the Dutch pair took the lead with a score of 74.875 when seventh of the 15 horse-and-rider partnerships to take their turn. But it was the the 79.900 posted by Hester and Uthopia that they were chasing as the final tranche of riders got underway.

The supreme showman described his performance as “a great last ride”. He said, “I wasn’t emotional coming in, I was quite looking forward to it, but when I finished, you kind of get the feeling for what the horses have done for British dressage, so I did feel emotional coming out. It was a stress-free, enjoyable ride” he explained. British dressage has indeed been through an extraordinary period of change and amazing success in recent years, with Hester at the very heart of it. Looking back at his spectacular partnership with the 11-year-old stallion Uthopia he pointed out that, “the plan always was that he was to be sold, but I do always like to remember that I was lucky to keep the horse for so long”.

Excellent Account

He was followed into the ring by fellow-Briton, Michael Eilberg who is son of world-famous rider and trainer Ferdi Eilberg, and who gave an excellent account of himself with a score of 76.225 from the promising grey mare, Half Moon Delphi which would eventually place them fifth.

But it was Isabell Werth, one of the most medalled athletes in equestrian sport, who took command with a lovely test from Don Johnson FRH with just five left to go. On their first outing in the current series, the German partnership showed power and symmetry that was rewarded with the new leading score of 80.075 to put it up to the remaining four.

Reigning World Champion, Dutchman Edward Gal, overcame some very tense moments to show extravagant extended canter and lovely canter pirouettes for a mark of 74.050 before Dujardin raised the bar to a whole new level.

Valegro however was also on edge, with a nervous moment just before entering the arena. “Something spooked him coming in”, Dujardin explained afterwards. “It messed up the whole beginning, but he settled down in canter. The changes and extensions are quite tough for horses when that happens, but I was actually very happy with them as it turned out” she said.

And so were the majority of the Ground Jury, as she was awarded three maximum scores of 10 marks for her first extended trot along with two more for the one-tempi changes and three further top scores for her one-tempi canterwork.

Sweden’s Minna Telde followed with a strong 77.050 from the brave one-eyed black stallion Santana who would line up fourth, before Denmark’s Sidsel Johansen and Schianto brought the class to a close with another charming effort from Schianto to slot into sixth. But there was no doubt about the strength of the winning partnership – “it was a great way to finish the year” Dujardin said, “I’ve done what I wanted to do here last year”.

No Further Plans

She has no further plans for Valegro at present. “We will sit down and see what’s going to happen in January. He (Valegro) may be sold on, but we are hoping to get a share of him and I’m hoping to keep the ride” Dujardin explained.

Werth said “my Christmas present is done because we did two very good tests, and today was even better than yesterday. My horse has improved a lot over the last six months and I hope it will go on like this but we have to work very hard to beat the British again! To finish second twice with a young horse – I didn’t expect it. And to sit between two Olympic champions is a really good feeling for me” said the gracious runner-up whose own collection of Olympic memorabilia is not inconsiderable.

While Dujardin and Hester are not planning any further participation in the 2012/2013 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series, Werth will travel to the next leg in Amsterdam in January. “I have to do that if I want to have a chance to get to the Final” she said. Tonight she took the first big step on the road to Gothenburg, Sweden where she recorded the first of her two FEI World Cup™ Dressage series victories 20 years ago.

For further information on the fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 series at London’s Olympia Horse Show check out website www.olympiahorseshow.com. The next leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series will take place in Amsterdam (NED) from 18-21 January 2013. For details of the Dutch fixture go to website www.jumpingamsterdam.nl.

In the preliminary Grand Prix staged at Olympia on Monday 17 December, Olympic champions Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro (GBR) established a new world-record with their winning score of 84.447.

Britain’s Carl Hester and Uthopia competed together for the final time tonight when they finished third.

Three further qualifiers take place in the Western European League before the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final which will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden next April.

Amsterdam in The Netherlands will host the next leg on Saturday 18 January 2013.

Just three riders per nation can qualify for the Final.

Quotes:

Charlotte Dujardin, when asked how she was feeling having suffered a bout of bronchitis “I feel much better today. I saw the doctor again last night”.

Carl Hester, talking about the horses he has available and the announcement of significant new funding for British equestrianism – “We’re very busy buying everything we see. We have more horses living in fields than you’ve ever seen! Look at what the Lottery Funding has already done, it has changed the face of British Dressage for sure. It’s an added bonus to add to the success and the building blocks that UK Sport has put in place already”.

Ground Jury President, Stephen Clarke – “the competition was really exciting to judge, it was really high level. To watch these riders take such risks is what makes the sport”.

FEI Dressage Director, Trond Asmyr – “this is the first year that we are down to eight qualifiers, to get more attention around the shows we have. There has been very good participation in the Western European League. When we had this process to reduce the numbers, we went through all the shows to see how they are and we are very happy that we made the correct choice to have it here in Olympia where the atmosphere is fantastic. Congratulations to the riders and to the horses, without them we wouldn’t be here”.

Reem Acra FEI Hub http://www.fei.org/reemacra gives you access to useful information, including all news releases from the current and past Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series (see “News and Press”).

FEI World Cup™ Dressage, the only worldwide series in this discipline, has entered its 28th season. The series, created in 1985, comprises four leagues: Western European, Central European, North American (including Canada) and Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Asia). Each FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifier consists of a Grand Prix test, which in turn is a qualification for the Freestyle to music competition, where league points are accumulated towards places in the Final. Judged on both technical and artistic merit, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage combines art, sport and partnership between horse and rider at the highest level and consistently proves a winning formula with audiences all over the world.

The complete rules, calendar, updated ranking and results are available here